Details

Details

The Doug Ritter
RSK® Mk2 Perseverance™ is a departure from Doug's usual take on
survival gear, which generally leans towards light and compact.
The RSK® Mk2 is anything but that, however it does represent his
take on the "sharpened pry bar" school of survival knife design.
Ethan Becker is widely considered the father of that concept,
the person who popularized it, and a close friend of Doug's, so
when the time came to start designing a heavy duty fixed blade
Ritter Survival Knife (hence "RSK"), it only made sense that
Doug talked to Ethan about the concept.

A long eight years later that collaboration has finally
given birth to the aptly named Doug Ritter RSK® Mk2
Perseverance™. As a name for a survival knife, it also rings
true. In many cases, the difference between living and dying
is exactly that, perseverance.

As with the original Doug Ritter RSK® Mk1, one of the
guiding principles in developing the Doug Ritter RSK® Mk2
Perseverance™ was to provide an exceptional value. Becker
knives already had a well-deserved reputation for providing
an incredible price to performance ratio, which has been one
of the keys to their success. The challenge was to not mess
that up. Doug has succeeded, producing an
extraordinary hard use fixed blade knife, a knife you can
bet your life on®, at a price that is a good value for a
low-rate production blade. That's the rub. You can't do a
high quality, low-rate production knife for the same low
cost as you can a more mass produced production knife such
as Ethan's KA-BAR Becker Knife & Tool knives. We
hope that you find the unique properties of Doug's RSK® Mk2
Perseverance™ are worth the extra cost.

Becker's trademark ergonomic handle scales of molded Swiss
GV6H thermoplastic polymer provide the ultimate in strength,
well proven in years of field and actual combat use.
Overall length of the RSK® Mk2 is 11.375 inches (28.89 cm)
with a 6-inch (15.24 cm) drop point blade, 0.188"
thick. Steel is 1095 high carbon steel, heat treated
to 57 HRC. This will take a good edge, is very tough and
sharpens easily. With a chord of 1.625" and a high
grind, it makes for a decent slicer. It's a knife first, pry
bar and chopper second.

Doug prefers a perfectly balanced blade in a knife this
size, but there are many, such as Ethan, who prefer to have
a more tip-forward bias in their larger knives. In a moment
of inspiration (or perhaps insanity, if you ask Ethan), Doug
came up with an idea that would allow both options, without
breaking the bank. Three brass 1/8-inch NPT tapered
plugs in the tang, under the handle, allowed an owner to
customize the balance to suit their particular preference.
Doug has dubbed this "Personal Balance™" and a patent is
pending.

The
entire blade and tang are given a tough Charcoal Gray
powdercoating. The knife is laser engraved on the
front side with the Doug Ritter-Becker collaboration logo
and serial number on the blade and U.S.A. on the butt. The
reverse side has the ROWEN mark and on the butt is the
patent pending notice.

The 1095 steel is not rust resistant in the least, so you
will need to take appropriate care of the blade to prevent
rust, including the laser engraved portions and the threaded
holes for the tapered plugs if the plugs are removed. I
recommend a dry film rust inhibitor such as Sentry Solutions
TUF-CLOTH or TUF-GLIDE, but you can use any rust
preventative or treatment you prefer, or none at all. If you
do not take precautions, it will rust. Rusting of the knife
is NOT covered by the warranty.

The sheath follows in the Becker tradition, taken up a
notch. What you get is a sturdy black nylon sheath with a
heat molded Kydex insert and a pocket on the front. The ballistic Nylon sheath is made
in Mexico, the Kydex sheath insert is made in the USA. The pocket has
an elastic top and is big enough to hold an Altoids tin. The
flap over the pocket is embroidered with the Doug
Ritter/Becker logo in gray thread. The handle retaining
strap has a stiffener to make it easy to unsnap one-handed.
Lashing points are provided top and bottom and the back is
Molle compatible.

The Doug Ritter RSK® Mk2 is made in the USA by Rowen Manufacturing
(best known for producing knives for TOPS and ESEE). The
sheath is made in Mexico.

RSK® Mk2 WARRANTY: Break it, we'll replace it™ for the life
of the knife or we'll refund the purchase price to the original
purchaser, your choice. Rust, corrosion or discoloration of the
1095 steel and wear from use or sharpening is not warranted.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each Doug Ritter RSK®
Knife goes to support the non-profit Equipped To Survive
Foundation. In addition, for the RSK® Mk2 Ethan Becker is donating
his royalty to Equipped To Survive Foundation.